The rescue work you don't see
This is a photo of Sandler, taken in 2012 when he was young and full of life. I spent the best part of a year sharing this beautiful boy with everyone and every group I could trying to place him. It was all in vain. We believe he is a black Labrador/Boxer mix and he was so full of life and energy there seemed to be no slowing him down.
It is now 2021 and Sandler is still at Satchel's. He is in a wheelchair now due to the inability to use his back legs. He has the love and attention of several volunteers who continue to try and manipulate his wheelchair to make it more comfortable for him to use. He still goes on walks and is the same dog he was when I was writing about him 9 years ago.
The main reason Sandler could not find a home was his total hatred of other dogs. He was such a strong dog, he could scale a fence after another dog in seconds flat. We don't know why. I believe he had lived with dogs before he came to us. I had at one time thought about adoption but because there are so many dogs in my neighborhood who are allowed to run loose, I feared he might hurt or even kill another dog if they somehow got in my yard.
But he loved, loved, loved people. He stayed with us and we kept looking with no success. These are the parts of rescue which the public seldom sees. The animals who are so broken by their experiences, they never succeed in finding a forever home. They are still loved and cared for by the shelter. They are provided food, medical care, and love and live out their lives in a kennel.
There are some who might say the animals would be better off dead. I would argue that the animals are a product of the humans who owned them. It is not their fault they have trouble adjusting to what humans determine is acceptable. When you support a shelter like Satchel's Last Resort, you can know that ALL the animals are allowed to live. Please consider donations so we can continue to provide for all of our creatures. Even the ones who may not fit society's mold of what a perfect dog may be.
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